Maryland vs. Alabama Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
No. 1 overall seed Alabama had no trouble in its first-round NCAA Tournament South Region matchup but things get tougher Saturday from Birmingham, Ala., when the Tide of the SEC face No. 8 Maryland of the Big Ten. Bama opened as an 8.5-point favourite on the college basketball odds.
Maryland vs. Alabama Round of 32 Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this game faces either No. 13 Furman, a shock first-round winner over No. 4 Virginia, or No. 5 San Diego State (my choice) in the Sweet 16 next weekend.
Alabama did play one Big Ten team during the regular season, betting Michigan State 81-70 in a Thanksgiving neutral-site holiday tournament. The Terps lost their lone meeting with the Spartans 63-58 on the road Feb. 7. Alabama is -135 to reach the Elite Eight and +113 to win the South.
Maryland played one SEC team this season, losing 56-53 to Tennessee on Dec. 11 at a neutral site. The Tide played the Vols once and lost 68-59 on Feb. 15 in Knoxville. Bama has just one loss since. Maryland is +441 to reach the Elite Eight and +902 to take the South.
Maryland Terrapins
We projected Maryland to cover as a 2.5-point underdog in its first-round matchup against West Virginia and the Terps did better than that: They won 67-65 over the No. 9 Mountaineers despite trailing 16-4 about midway through the first half to improve to 4-2 on neutral courts this season. WVU’s Kedrian Johnson missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. Julian Reese led the Terps with 17 points and nine rebounds. Hakim Hart had 15 points, including the go-ahead basket with 3:30 left, four assists, and three rebounds, and Donta Scott scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Scott moved to No. 28 on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,317 points. The Terrapins have now won 15 of their last 16 opening-round games dating back to 1997. They are 44-28 all-time in their 30th NCAA Tournament and looking for a 15th trip to the Sweet 16 and first since 2006 when Maryland lost to No. 1 Kansas.
Alabama Crimson Tide
In its 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance, Alabama improved to 22-22 in it with Thursday’s 96-75 victory over No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, never trailing and shooting 15-for-33 from deep, the school’s second-most makes in NCAA Tournament history. The shocking news there was that SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Brandon Miller, a sure-fire 2023 NBA Top 10 pick, somehow went scoreless. Miller, who averaged a team-high 19.7 points per game entering, played only 19 minutes and missed all five of his field-goal attempts. Coach Nate Oats said Miller injured his groin during the Crimson Tide’s win in the SEC Championship Game on Sunday and limiting Miller’s time on the floor was the plan if the game dictated that.
The Tide are looking for their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2021 when they were a No. 2 seed and lost in overtime to No. 11 UCLA. Prior to that, Alabama hadn’t been that far since 2004. Alabama is now 3-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Birmingham, which is about 55 miles from the Bama campus in Tuscaloosa.
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